Personally I don’t think the Emmy’s was the forum for her speech. I love her and the show but I tune in to the Emmy’s to enjoy seeing the people in the shows I enjoy win an award for their efforts, not political commentary. Was she right in what she said? Maybe, I don’t know I don’t work in that environment, but I’m not interested in listening to political statements, from anyone, when I tune into an entertainment show to be entertained. I myself watch all the shows that were in that category and I think Taraji should have won.… Read more »

Viola is being classy and keeping the focus on her achievement.

The media blew this up so HUGE and now she and NLG are permanently associated together which is the last thing NLG intended, IMHO.

NLG just said what she always says: speak up for women. Both want the same thing and love the same art form. Lesson learned. Let’s move on.

ILL pass on commenting, many overly sensitive people might misconstrue what im saying and take offense…lol

well,
she messed up bringing Harriet Tubman and her words into an acceptance speech..
She should have used her words thanks and honor and not brought heavy into it..
even if she didn’t know it it put discrimination in her acceptance.
Anyways, who cares.. It’s dumb stuff..
now days- bad/nasty twitter’s gives a public figure more air time more acknowledgment and a lot more attention.
It works great for Trump lol

Viola gave an amazing speech, and as a minority in this country where its still hard to be accepted whether your black, Hispanic are another nationality besides being white, I am agree with all she had to say, it was classy and down right the truth.

We all have to fight but the minorities have to fight harder and we should not have too we should be seen as equal.

Nancy repeatedly crossed the line with her tweets, which could also be considered “rants.” She publicly targeted politicians and religious groups. Her fans may consider her clever and witty, but many consider her tweets to be rude or offensive. Even her apology for the racist remarks were inappropriate. Well now she has finally gone too far and is deemed a racist. Words hurt, don’t they Nancy? What is going on over at ABC? Do they have a publicist? You would never see Laura Wright in a verbal mess like this, but Bryan Craig, Nancy Lee, and now Ryan Paevey need… Read more »

NLG overstepped like she always does. She needs to be muzzled. ABC is a disgrace for letting her get away with it. It was Viola’s acceptance speech therefore she can say what she wants whether anyone agrees or not. This isn’t the first time NLG opened her mouth. NLG dudn tg gave to go on twitter and make h er opinion kniwn.

NLG didn’t have to go on twitter and make her opinion known. She didn’t just comment either. She went on and on.

Soap actors aren’t taken seriously enough but this show certainly doesn’t belong on Prime Time Television with those questionable scenes. HBO or Showtime maybe.

I am really surprised by the anger so many viewers have expressed about Ms. Davis’s mention of Harriet Tubman. Why are so many white viewers so offended by this? I am an African American myself, old enough to remember a world where our civil rights were not a given and had to be fought for. I remember as a child in the 1960s that we “Negros” considered successes on the platform of the arts an expression of our integration into and acceptance by white society: Sidney Poitier’s Oscar, Motown acts on Ed Sullivan, Dianne Carroll starring in “Julia.” We cheered… Read more »

Viola’s speech was PERFECT!!! She commented on her experience, and the experience of many black actresses in this country. People who find a problem with her speech really make me laugh. These people also make me question their own morals and values. Viola commented on her experience and how it’s affected her in the industry. These same people who find fault in Viola’s speech by saying it “wasn’t the place” to bring up race issues — well, please tell me, where EXACTLY is the place to bring up racism issues about actors TO ACTORS, DIRECTORS, and PRODUCERS??? Where was she… Read more »

I think that it’s time to let it go. Nancy Lee Grahn has apologized repeatedly, if you’ve never said anything that unintentionally hurt someone then you’re ahead of the game.

I’m glad Viola said something meaningful. Instead of rattling off a bunch of names (agents, publicists, etc.) that would go in one ear and right out the other with me, she gave me a glimpse of who she was as a person and what it took for her to get there.

I don’t think Viola Davis speech was out of turn at the “Emmys,” in fact in was due to Her Historic Win of the Emmy, for “Outstanding Lead Actresses in a Drama Series, “The FIRST Black Woman or Woman of Color to do so.” that lead to Her Speech. I think it was a classy & well thought out speech, that was based on the fact of Lack of Roles, especially Lead Roles on Tv (also Movies & other Media) for Women of Color. It wasn’t like she made a out-of-left-field, nothing at all to do with the Emmys Political… Read more »

I want to scream everytime someone says let it go about Ms. Grahn’s twitter rant. Even though she apologized and deleted her flurry of hateful tweets, she went on and on into the early morning even after people let her know how vicious her comments were. She is not a young person and I would think she would have some decorum. Ms. Davis’ speech was for every person of color who finds it hard to find parts in Primetime tv. We will move on to the next thing, but I hope next time, Ms. Grahn will think before she tweets.

And another thing that bothers me about Nancy Lee Grahn’s comments — she acts like there are Black women ALL OVER GH!!! Like there are LITERALLY more black women in lead roles on GH than there are white women. Like NLG had to “fight” for the role of Alexis Davis because they were only auditioning black actresses at the time. Like NLG had auditioned for MILLIONS of roles, but they ALL went to black actresses instead! What in the world is this chick talking about??? Seriously, Viola has NEVER been discriminated against, but poor, sad, woe-is-me NLG has??? Gimme a… Read more »

Nancy’s comments were completely inappropriate. Bottom line, this moment was not a only a big win for Viola Davis, it was a big moment for AFRICAN AMERICAN ACTRESSES. To say it should be about all women who don’t get recognized or acknowledged makes NO SENSE because white actresses have been acknowledged for their craft and have been awarded this honor for SEVERAL DECADES! This moment WAS AND STILL IS HUGE and for her to try to take away from it and attempt to negate this historical moment is very disappointing. One can argue that she is entitled to her feelings… Read more »

It’s clear that Davis was mum on NLG because she is extremely perturbed with NLG and didn’t want to make matters worse. I will ignore the larger, more important, issue of race relations and dive right into social media. Social media will lead to the downfall of society. Look at the tremendous backlash to NLG for her tweets. In a sense, I suppose that our interactions here at the Fairman site are a part of social media. Yet I have seen much divisiveness and harmful effects coming from FaceBook, Twitter, and their ilk. I was briefly on FB but left… Read more »

I posted a long post about this under the original column. Simply put…it was Ms. Davis’ speech. (Ironic that Nancy Lee Grahn plays Alexis DAVIS.) If Nancy had to post about the speech , it should have said CONGRATULATIONS ON A WELL DESERVED WIN. Nothing more. Mixing tequila and twitter is NEVER A good idea! I would like to coin a new phrase for celebrities who imbibe and then go to Social Media. TWIQUILA.

Nancy Lee Grahn’s tweets were so uncalled for really? Now she had to go back and apologize, which was good, but still, never been fan of her’s and never will. GH good luck with this actress on your show, well there’s hardly any minorities on GH anyway, so she want have to worry so much!

Anacarrie, Tristan, and Trophy Lady were excellent with their comments ; I can’t add anything to what they stated. Bravo ! Tremendous! Superb!

Food for thought…Everyone has their own way of accepting an award. Viola had hers, and I can’t say I blame her…certainly not on racial grounds. It was 75 years ago Hattie McDaniel graciously accepted her Academy award as best supporting actress in Gone With The Wind. She was incidentally the first negro, as she was called then, to receive one, in a segregated venue where her director had to get special permission for her to be admitted and given a table. Since then there has been Sidney Poitier, Denzel, Whoopi, Harry Belafonte, and others that have won awards, and continued… Read more »

NLG ‘s comments , Tweets, should have not her send button, if she had a 5-10 second delay, we would never know her thoughts about race, discrimination, women, equality……it would have been some other actor, actress, who would have taken her place in voicing the same or similar remarks. This usually occurs when there is an award show, and a “milestone” is or may occur. Hollywood, the Television Academy, has for a very’ very long time, failed to recognize gifted talented actors, because they put them in a box with respect to their gender, race, and the few people in… Read more »

I want to address what the article above said that Nancy Lee Graham asserted that Viola Davis was a part of an elite group of actresses that had never been held back by discrimination. In 2014, Oprah Winfrey had a special on OWN where African-American actresses were invited to come and discuss their issues and experiences trying to get work in Hollywood. They also talked about how those experiences had affected them personally. The participating actresses included Viola and others who Nancy would probably consider elite. After reading many of the comments on this page and comments on the initial… Read more »

I still think the reaction to Nancy is ridiculous..However, I don’t think she helped get her point across by stating her opinion that Viola wasn’t discriminated against. Perhaps she was at some point before she got on Times 100 most influential list or before her numerous awards including the Academy Awards, Tony Awards, Emmy….among others.

Still, I’d like to know how many expert witnesses here gave her a breathalyzer test whilst condemning Nancy and calling her a racist.

Before taking to twitter perhaps Nancy should have asked herself besides Debbi Morgan, how many African-American actresses have had the privilege to work in daytime for 30+ years? It seems Nancy has forgotten her own “elite class” including the likes of Deidre Hall, Susan Lucci, Katherine Kelly Lang, Kristian Alfonso, Melody Scott (I could go on and on and on…) It should take nothing more than a look at her daytime community to understand the need for diversity. If Nancy is such a champion for human rights and women’s rights she should understand and celebrate Viola’s much deserved accomplishment.

N LG made a mistake, she sounded jealous to me. I don’t think she meant to sound racist. I’m an African American I’ll give her a pass, people say stupid things sometimes.

Twitter and Facebook are pernicious awful platforms. That said, I applaud Nancy, and no, speaking the truth as one sees it is not racist. Like I said in another post about something different, this country now is about groups, which is the total antithesis of our philosophy as different people who choose a common set of values, liberty, individualism and hard work, not ethnicity or nationality. Being an actress in Hollywood and winning an Emmy are luxuries and privileges of an elitist few, many who aren’t any more talented than anyone else. People need to grow up and stop looking… Read more »